My First University Lecture

I have begun teaching my graduate and post graduate students.  One is a professor at the medical school, two are medical students in the area of psychiatric medicine, and the others are pedagogical students interested in teaching children who are deaf or hard of hearing children. I think it went well, as everyone was attentive, and I was asked a number of questions.  My first lesson focused on a basic introduction and overview of deafness, deaf education and technologies.  We covered basic terminologies and definitions, onset of hearing loss, impact of hearing loss on language acquisition and academic achievement, the importance of early detection & intervention, assistive listening devices and a very basic introduction to instructional practices.  We did not get as far as I would have liked, because they asked a lot of questions, but that is positive, because it demonstrates that they are interested in the subject matter.

The medical professor and students want me to teach about cognitive disabilities, children with emotional and behavioral disabilities and medical issues related to hearing loss.  I can do that, but want to focus on instruction and educational programming in deaf education, which was the focus of my grant proposal.  The medical school folks obviously view matters from a pathological/medical perspective, and when I told them I would e-mail them information on syndromes, they were visibly pleased.  Ultimately, I want everyone in the class to focus deaf and hard of hearing students from a cultural, social and educational perspective. 

I have enough material, prepared lectures and media presentations to keep us busy for the next six months, especially if we will only be meeting once a week.  I had planned for and expected to teach at least twice a week, but my time is being taken up teaching three English classes to the middle and high school students.

Next week we will discuss students with cognitive disabilities, which isn’t really the focus of this class, but the individuals at the medical school really want me to touch on that subject.  First, I want to revisit early detection of hearing loss, however.